Nikias and Kassandra strolled through Athens until they reached the city’s south edge. Then Kassandra indicated they would walk southwest. They passed through several small farms until they came to Despina’s farm. Nikias looked around.
“Olive trees? No wheat or barley?” he asked. “The land does not support the growing of grain. Some of the farms we passed plant it, but wheat requires they leave the ground fallow every other year. Such a practice is too costly for the farmers,” Kassandra explained. “Despina has a small area where her farmer grows just enough wheat for his family’s bread. The olive trees are quite productive, however, as are the grape vines growing on the hillside,” she said, pointing at the hills to the west.
“That land belongs to Despina also?” Nikias asked.
“Yes, her farm is quite large. Let’s go inside,” Kassandra said.
Kassandra’s mother, Acacia, wanted a different life for Kassandra than what was available to her in Athens. Instead of a wife, hetaera, or slave, Acacia sent her daughter to be an Amazon. But her fate may require her to be more roles than any woman has been before.
Official synopsis:
Kassandra was just ten years old when her mother spirited her away in the middle of the night to avoid an arranged marriage, traveling until they reached the mountains the Greeks believed belonged to Zeus. There, her mother left her alone, telling her she must climb the mountains, a feat no man had accomplished, to find the secret band of free warrior women—the Amazons.
Kassandra was an amazing and inspiring woman. Forced to strike out on her own at only ten years old, she completes a journey that would kill most grown men, and it seems inevitable that she become a formidable Amazon warrior. While love was never on her agenda, she knows there is something different about Nikias from their first meeting.
Although she knows of no woman who has ever been able to live both as an Amazon and as a woman in a different society in the same lifetime, the gods themselves may be guiding Kassandra on a unique path. This story was fascinating and earned 4 out of 5 stars. While it felt like an epic story, it was an exciting and engaging read that went quickly. It was hard to believe that most of the events described took place in less than 20 years of Kassandra’s life as an Amazon. This book would be highly encouraged reading for anyone interested in ancient Greek history with a female perspective.
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Becki Bayley is a wife, mom, and a cog in the corporate machine. See what she and her family are up to on Instagram where she posts as PoshBecki.
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Kassandra: A Tale of Love, War, and One Woman's Destiny: A Novel of Ancient Greece, by Alison Blasdell
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